Work Resumes and Boat Photos

At 9 AM Joel and Mercedes showed up and began a discussion of how to build up and square off the insides of the engine beds.  Mercedes will use ply for the buildup.  I asked and was told that it would not be marine ply.  I pointed to the bilge and said "mucha agua" and made a gesture of the boat rolling from side to side.   They laughed and assured me that the fiberglass would protect the wood.

Soon the fiberglass man arrived with his assistant and Joel explained what would be required.  After they left Joel told me that they would be back on Miercoles (Wednesday).

I must say again how really really impressed  I am at the pace of Joel and his colleagues on this job.  If I've got it right the engine bed should be ready on Thursday or Friday. I plan to spend  the weekend painting the entire engine compartment with 2-part marine paint.  If I know Joel he will now be working on the construction of the wooden gantry for moving the engine from the jetty onto the boat.

After everyone had left the boat finished the job of getting the refrigerator going (broken wire) but was disappointed to find that after 30 minutes there was no cooling. It looks like that gas leak has gotten worse so I'll call in the fellow who tracked the last leak with a super sensitive sniffer. 

I had spent two hours last night drawing to scale on graph paper the recessed cockpit instrument compartment that I have in mind, so I visited Neil in his office to show him the plans.  He liked them and suggested one very good change.  I returned to the boat for another hour's work of making the change and including a 10mm mounting flange.  Neil then made photocopies and said that he is confident that the fiberglass man can make it and will discuss it with him.  If we can pull this off Pachuca will sail out of La Paz with flush-mounted cockpit engine instruments protected behind plexiglass.

After lunch Brenda and I went to the boat yards in search of Mike's 22-ft Falmouth Cutter Narwhal.  We found it and soon Mike came out to get some lunch.  He was a very happy man because the cause of his problem had been found.  Mike's boat has the traditional shaft packing gland with the two large nuts for tightening the packing.  The Achilles heel of the arrangement is the rubber boot that spans the gap between the stern tube and the rear of the packing gland.  If this boot either ruptures or comes loose water  will gush into the build through the stern tube.  Both ends of this boot must be double clamped for safety.  In Mike's case both rear clamps rusted through and the boot came loose.

Mike learned a hard lesson from which we fellow sailors can benefit about checking this area frequently.

To the right are photos of Mike and his wonderful little boat.

Here is a photo taken late in the day of Ib and Yadranka's Hans Christian 38 "Aeolus".  It was built in Taiwan and is superbly fitted out with high quality wood work and stainless steel. 

Brenda's Bird of the Day is the Northern Mockingbird.

My attention was drawn to a harsh birdcall that I recognized - a Cactus Wren. Then the call changed to something very melodic and completely different. The bird making these calls, which looked nothing like a Cactus Wren, then started jumping up and down on top of the post, spreading his wings, afterwhich he resumed a loud and varied concert. I had heard of mockingbirds, but this was the first that I had seen.